This flagship program is part of the presidential Feed the Future initiative, which harmonizes hunger- and poverty-fighting efforts in countries with chronic food insecurity and insufficient staple crop production. AMDe, pronounced ahmd, means “pillar of my home” in Amharic, signaling the project’s importance to household well-being.

The targeted value chains—chickpeas, coffee, honey, maize, sesame and wheat—were identified for their potential to improve both food security and incomes. Each of these value chains ranks among the top 10 in Africa. For several, Ethiopia is famed for unique product characteristics.

AGP-AMDe will transform the comparative advantages of these value chains into competitive advantages that benefit all stakeholders, especially smallholder farmers, including women. AGP-AMDe expects more than 1 million smallholder producers to benefit over the program’s five years. Gross margins for these farmers should double, and losses will be dramatically cut.

Ethiopia Targets High-Rainfall Regions: Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, Tigray

AGP-AMDe is a key component of Ethiopia’s Agriculture Growth Program or AGP, a collaborative initiative of the Ethiopian government, the World Bank and multiple international donors, including USAID, to promote economic growth in four high-rainfall regions with strong agricultural potential: Amhara (where the project operates in 22 woredas, or districts); Oromia (34 woredas); Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region (19 woredas); and Tigray (8 woredas).

The program also supports the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) framework and broader efforts of key African institutions to increase investments in agriculture and promote regional trade and integration.

Six Specific Value Chain Strategies

AGP-AMDe’s facilitated value chain approach unites Ethiopia’s agricultural stakeholders to work together to create market opportunities and overcome shared obstacles. Program activities are designed to

improve the enabling environment, working closely with the Ethiopian government

expand public-private partnership investments to buy down risks and leverage the impact of innovations, such as ideas supported through the Innovation and Demonstration Fund, a cost-share grant program.